Abstract
Normal Intraocular pressure (IOP) is an essential prerequisite for the eye to serve its function as a light gathering and transducer organ. Various physiological factors which include age, gender and hormonal variations may influence IOP in normal subjects and these effects sometimes may be marked and relatively sustained. The prevalence of hypertension is found to be 69.9/1000 urban Indian women which is one of the commonest cardiovascular disorder. This is chiefly contributed to the postmenopausal changes. With women, living longer than before, a majority would spend 1/3 of their life in the postmenopausal age. Among women, increasing IOP was more evident with age than men. Increased blood pressure is associated with modestly elevated prevalence of primary open angle glaucoma. So post-menopausal women were examined for IOP changes in relation to blood pressure and duration of menopause in comparison to pre- menopausal women.
Methodology: A total of 240 females who were in the age group of 40 – 55 years, who were recruited for the study, were divided into two groups of 60 each: premenopausal and postmenopausal, based on their menstrual history. The Blood Pressure of the subjects was then calculated. IOP was recorded in all individuals and it was compared between the two groups by using Student ‘t’ test. A P value of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
Results: The results of the present study showed that there was a significant increase (Student ‘t’ test, p < 0.001) in the IOP in the postmenopausal group as compared to that in premenopausal women. Systolic BP, Diastolic BP and Pulse Pressure were positively associated with the IOP in both pre and post-menopausal women. IOP was observed to increase with age and the years of attainment of menopause ('F' test p < 0.001).
Keywords: Intraocular Pressure, Menopause, Blood Pressure.
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DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v5i2.41
